O’Connor Knights will be competing on the national stage for the first time in their history, and while this achievement is significant, the club doesn’t want to stop there.
Having put two-time winners Monaro Panthers to the sword at Deakin Stadium, the Knights soared into the Round of 32 stage of the Australia Cup, in what was a monumental victory for the club.
“[I’m] delighted obviously for the club,” Assistant Coach Nick Tither said. “We’ve had a pretty successful 18 months or so, so it’s about building momentum and putting some top players in the best possible stage to play football.”
While the significance of the opportunity is not lost on O’Connor, Tither says that the club is focused on achieving more success, rather than classing one trophy as the season’s main outcome.
“Not at all,” he said, when asked if this trophy meant the most. “Every trophy is important, right? Obviously, we’ve been successful here, now we need to focus on the league as well, so [it’s] not the most important, but it’s obviously pleasing to win it.”
Having played many important matches at Deakin Stadium recently, notably their Grand Final defeat to Canberra Croatia in 2023, the Knights have gathered plenty of experience in the big moments, which have prompted an opportunity to evolve as a squad, into a final-winning side.
“Look obviously it was an experience for some of the lads that hadn’t played in a final before and they were hungry,” Tither said, discussing their Grand Final defeat. “So preseason obviously we had the Charity Shield and we won that, and they obviously don’t want to be back at Deakin Stadium losing big games of football, so the squad has learned a lot.
“It’s a young squad, they haven’t played in those games, and the more we play in them, the better we’re going to be.”
For a relatively inexperienced squad, their 26-game winning streak in the league is a testament to the work being done at O’Connor, however, their defeat to Monaro Panthers in the league a week before they met again in the final, ended their hopes of extending the run of wins.
While this has historically harmed a squad’s confidence, Tither argues that it had the opposite effect for the Knights, almost galvanising the players for the cup final.
“I think there was an element of that,” he said. “I think at the same time it was going to happen at some stage, so we just needed to look at the performance and figure out where we could be better, and make sure when we got the opportunity to be better than we were,” Tither said.
Now that O’Connor are into the Australia Cup knockout round, all potential opponents are welcomed by Tither, including professional opposition.
“We’re happy to draw anybody,” Tither said. “Obviously if you get an A-League team that’s a fantastic opportunity to put some good players against professionals, and I’m sure the team will be excited whomever we draw, and if it’s an A-League team that’s even better.”
Words: Sam Watson
